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2013 has been a year of transition and change for Penn Arts
toward our most important
and Sciences. We successfully concluded the seven-year
goals. In this issue, Thomas
Making History campaign, raising $529 million in support of
Katz, W’79, parent, talks
the School’s priorities. We celebrated the tenure of Rebecca
about his family’s legacy
Bushnell, who led the School as dean for eight exciting and
of involvement in the Katz
productive years. And we welcomed our new dean, Steven J.
Center for Advanced Judaic
Fluharty, C’79, G’79, Gr’81, parent.
Studies; Curtis Schenker,
At Penn Arts and Sciences we embrace change, but we never lose sight of our fundamental nature and purpose. So even as we spend this year drafting a new strategic plan that will guide the School through the changing landscape of teaching, learning, research, and discovery, we will continue to serve as the intellectual heart of Penn. As a member of the College Class of 1979 and with a 27-year career at Penn, Steve perfectly represents continuity during a time of change. I know you will be as energized as I am by his thoughtful vision for the future, his warm leadership style, and his deep commitment to the School, which he shares with all of you—our wonderful, vibrant community of alumni, parents, and friends. Since joining the Penn community in the fall of 1989, I’ve watched you come together time and time again to celebrate and support Penn Arts and Sciences. You’ve been a source of steadiness and strength—keeping us grounded in our traditions, even while you push us in new directions. You are incredibly important to the Penn community as a whole, and you make the School’s success possible. Your energetic support inspires all of us on campus and reminds us that what we do here in Philadelphia has far-reaching impact. This publication—included with every issue of the Penn Arts and Sciences Magazine—has undergone a change of its own. Renamed Partners and Progress, this special insert features stories about how you, our partners, become involved and give back in order to help the School make progress
C’80, parent, and alumni couple Allison, C’93, and Jeffrey McKibben, W’93, explain why they are dedicated to supporting scholarships; and alumna Laura Alber, C’90, discusses how her Penn experience helped shape her career and inspired her to give back. These are just a few of the countless examples of School supporters creating exceptional opportunities for our students and faculty so that they can make an impact on the world. We look forward to sharing more compelling stories like these with every issue. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank those who have generously lent their support in fiscal year 2013 (July 1, 2012 – June 30, 2013). Supporters of the School are listed in a report accompanying this magazine. Please accept our deepest thanks for another remarkable year. Our wise founder, Ben Franklin, once said: “When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.” At Penn Arts and Sciences, we certainly haven’t finished changing. As we look toward 2014, with Steve Fluharty’s energetic leadership and the enthusiastic engagement of our faculty, students, alumni, and parents, we realize that we’ve only just begun. Jean-Marie Kneeley Vice Dean for Advancement
Lida Godfrey
When You’re Finished Changing, You’re Finished
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Lisa Godfrey
Neural and Behavioral Sciences Building project launched! The School’s new Neural and Behavioral Sciences
Vagelos Program in Life Sciences and Management.
Building is scheduled to open in 2016. Situated
Lead donors (from left) David M. Silfen, C’66,
next to James G. Kaskey Memorial Park, the
parent; Julie Breier Seaman, C’86, parent; and
NBS Building will create a life sciences corridor
(far right) Fred Tedori, parent, join President Amy
and promote collaboration across undergraduate
Gutmann and former Penn Arts and Sciences Dean
programs by serving as the new home for Biology,
Rebecca Bushnell at the building’s ceremonial
Psychology, Biological Basis of Behavior, and the
groundbreaking on April 18, 2013.
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LEADING THE WAY IN ENERGY RESEARCH With a gift of $15 million, University of Pennsylvania Trustee Emeritus P. Roy Vagelos, C’50, Hon’99, and his wife, Diana, parents, are continuing to ensure Penn’s leadership in energy research by endowing two professorships dedicated to this critically important field. “Energy use and its impact on the world is one of
Scholars recruited for the Vagelos Professorships will
the most challenging problems that we face today,
be leaders in their fields and build upon Penn’s existing
and Penn is committed to being part of the solution,”
strengths in energy research, particularly in the study of
said Penn President Amy Gutmann. “Roy and Diana
photonics and plasmonics.
Vagelos are helping us to lead the way by supporting the expansion of a dynamic, interdisciplinary energy research environment at Penn—from a new program in undergraduate education to the recruitment of top faculty. We are grateful to Roy and Diana for partnering with us on this critical priority.”
“This generous gift not only endows the professorships, but also provides for the research and start-up funds associated with recruiting new faculty, enabling us to attract the most talented researchers who specialize in energy capture and storage and who can help transform our research efforts,” said School of Arts
Their gift to endow two professorships represents a
and Sciences Dean Stephen J. Fluharty. “Thanks to this
continuation of the Vageloses’ generous support of
commitment from Roy and Diana Vagelos, Penn will be
energy initiatives at Penn. In 2011, they committed
well-positioned to become a global leader at the frontier
$13.6 million to launch the Vagelos Integrated
of energy research.”
Program in Energy Research (VIPER), a dual-degree undergraduate program of Penn Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Science. The highly selective program prepares students for advanced degrees in energy science and engineering, focusing on the science and technology of alternative and efficient methods of production, conversion, and use of energy.
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BROADENING THE PENN FAMILY The School’s latest scholarship donors do all they can to help others become a part of Penn Arts and Sciences.
Laurie Rhodes
Allison Bieber McKibben, C’93, and Jeffrey McKibben, W’93, and their daughters, from left, Tyler, age 5, Morgan, age 9, and Riley, age 7.
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Curtis Schenker, C’80, parent, co-founder of Scoggin Capital Management, says Penn people are a part of his daily life. Between meetings with partner Craig Effron, W’81, discussions with other business associates, and work with fellow board members at organizations like the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Schenker estimates that he talks with as many as 10 Penn alumni every day. He says there’s “an immense value in business” to dealing with people he’s known since his college days and “a level of trust and understanding” that’s hard to come by any other way. While attending the College of Arts and Sciences, he says, “I met a group of people who were very motivated to achieve success. I had never seen that before, and I was suddenly surrounded by them. ... Had I not met the type of students I did at Penn, my life could have gone in a whole different Courtesy of Curtis Schenker
direction.” He’s thrilled that his daughter Alexandra chose to learn from and among Penn students as a member of the College Class of 2017, and Schenker wants to help other students have that same opportunity. “I owe everything to having been at Penn,” he says. For that reason, the Schenker Family Foundation recently endowed its third scholarship at the University. “You can get a liberal arts education and go anywhere in life. ... If you can send one kid to school it’s such a rewarding experience,” he says. Alumni couple Allison Bieber McKibben, C’93, and Jeffrey McKibben, W’93, couldn’t agree more. They attribute their professional success—as the founder of The McKibben Group executive recruiting firm in Allison’s case and a Managing Principal at Odyssey Investment Partners in Jeffrey’s—to their time at Penn. They also see the University as the root of their personal happiness, since it was their mutual Penn friends who brought them together as a couple a few months after graduation. “Penn has meant so much to both of us, in terms of growing up, becoming young adults, being on our own, having three beautiful daughters, and embracing that community and being able to be together as two Penn alumni and continue all that Penn has taught us and given us. We feel very attached,” Allison says. The University has been such an influence on their lives that Jeffrey decided to propose to Allison on campus during their fifth reunion. They say their subsequent reunions also have been pretty memorable. They’ve returned to campus for each one, serving on the reunion and/or gift committees and marking their 15th and 20th reunions by endowing
Curtis Schenker, C’80, parent
scholarships for College or Wharton students from their home states of Arkansas and Pennsylvania. “Giving is a journey,” says Jeffrey. “We’re beginning to realize the ripple effect that we can have in the lives of others … One of the important things that comes out of this is the connection we make with the student. In our experience, the student usually recognizes the ripple effect and desires to have the same type of effect on the lives of others. It’s a fun and gratifying chain to be a part of.”
“ Penn has meant so much to both of us, in terms of growing up.” It’s also been a meaningful experience for Allison. “Knowing the path that someone can be on at Penn, it’s one of the most satisfying feelings I’ve had,” she says.
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A FAMILY FOCUS The Katz Center’s board chair reflects on his family’s long involvement with Judaic studies at Penn.
Shira Yudkoff
Thomas O. Katz, Chair of the Board of the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, with a portrait of his late father, Herbert D. Katz.
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“T
he center was important
Tom Katz joined the board in 2000
in Modern Jewish History that
to my father because
at his father’s urging and became
Ruderman holds.
it combined two of his
board chair himself in 2012. “I can’t
great loves: the University
go to the center without feeling
of Pennsylvania and the Jewish
indelibly bound up in the history
people,” says Thomas O. Katz,
because of the work of my father,”
W’79, parent, SAS Overseer, and
he says. Moreover, he’s discovered
Chair of the Herbert D. Katz Center
that his family’s relationship with
for Advanced Judaic Studies’
the center precedes even Herb’s
Board of Overseers. His late father,
long affiliation. Tom’s grandfather,
Herbert D. Katz, W’51, parent, was
Joseph Meyerhoff, was a
one of the center’s founding board
supporter of Dropsie University,
members and served as chair from
the center’s earliest predecessor.
1998 to 2003.
Now Tom, his wife Elissa Ellant
Herb Katz had long been a champion of a broad Jewish studies curriculum at the University, so in 1993 when the Annenberg Research Institute
Katz, C’79, parent; his mother Eleanor Meyerhoff Katz, parent; and his brother-in-law, new board member Howard Reiter, parent, remain committed to the worldrenowned center, recognized by Judaic scholars as
“ I can’t go to the center without feeling indelibly bound up in the history because of the work of my father.”
the premier location to attend scholarly lectures and exchange ideas. After Herb passed away in 2007, the family made a gift to rename the center in his memory. “Some of his greatest
was reborn as Penn’s Center for
organizational joys and happiness
Judaic Studies—a postdoctoral
came from his work with Penn
research center devoted to all
and with [the center’s Ella Darivoff
facets of Jewish civilization—he
Director] David Ruderman, so it
wholeheartedly gave his time
seemed like a fitting way to honor
and support, crisscrossing the
his memory,” says Tom, whose
country to help raise a $20
family had already created a
million endowment to ensure its
fellowship, an annual lecture, and a
future. Today his family continues
publications fund at the center, as
his legacy.
well as the Joseph Meyerhoff Chair
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After 20 years as director, Ruderman will step down next summer. “There is nothing about any success at the center that is not indelibly intertwined with David Ruderman,” Tom says. He’s looking forward to collaborating with Ruderman’s successor, Steve Weitzman, whom Tom calls “an accomplished scholar, a fine administrator, and a great guy.” The board is already supporting Weitzman during the transition, says Tom, who like his father has worked hard to help board members, academics, and administrators cooperate as true partners. Exposing the board to the center’s rich scholarly life is another priority for him, as it was for Herb. One of his greatest pleasures, he says, is the annual Gruss Colloquium in Judaic Studies, at which the center’s fellows present their research. “To hear the younger scholars say what an influence it has been on their capacity to grow as academics … and to hear very seasoned people, who could go anywhere on sabbatical and choose to go to the Katz Center, talk about how the experience has brought their scholarship to new heights is really a great joy.”
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Courtesy of Williams-Sonoma, Inc
Q&A FURNISHING
A BETTER FUTURE
FOR COLLEGE
STUDENTS
Laura Alber, C’90
I
n her 18 years with WilliamsSonoma, Inc., CEO Laura Alber, C’90, has transformed the well-known housewares
company, particularly its Pottery Barn brand, by vastly expanding its product line, entering new geographic markets, and launching Pottery Barn Kids, Pottery Barn Bed + Bath, and PBTeen. Having started her career in the fashion industry, first with her own small business and later at Gap, Inc., and Contempo Casuals, Alber taught herself the history of furniture design when she shifted to home furnishings. She brings that same drive to her Penn roles, whether she’s interviewing applicants on the West Coast, representing the University at events like the recent inauguration of UC Berkeley’s new chancellor, serving on the Jay H. Baker Retailing Center’s industry advisory board, or supporting financial aid in the College. Here she shares her professional journey, its roots in the College, and her reasons for giving back.
Q: How did you first become interested in retail? Alber: During my junior year abroad at the University of Edinburgh, I saw a lot
of people wearing decorative hats, and started selling them to stores in Philly. I made business cards, I made order forms, I made the hats, I made the labels, I sewed them up and peddled them around town. It was really fun. It was one of those things that gave you courage that you could make something happen that wasn’t there before. I took my first job at the Gap because I thought, “I get this retail thing, and I like it.” I fell into it because it was what was natural for me to do.
Q: W hat is your vision for Williams-Sonoma? Alber: Everything we do revolves around our mission, which is to enhance our
customers’ lives at home. Not only do we want to give our customers beautiful, high-quality, functional pieces for their
homes, but we also want to leave the world a better place because we did business in it. Our growth is going to come from growing our current brands, launching new brands, and global expansion.
Q: Does your background in psychology affect how you manage your company? Alber: I think the same reason I was drawn to that as a major is probably
why I’m drawn to retail, which is that it’s about people and what drives people. I think my liberal arts education at Penn was key in preparing me for my current career. Psychology, and I did a lot of anthropology, with some Wharton classes sprinkled in, really prepared me extremely well for what I do today. It’s a combination of art and science.
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A Growing Presence in India Thanks to the dedication and support of alumni and friends, the University of Pennsylvania Institute for the Advanced Study of India (UPIASI) is growing as an on-the-ground center in New Delhi for policy-relevant research and outreach. UPIASI was created in 1995 as a partner for the campus-based Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI). The Institute's activities include research and fellowship programs, and it plays a critical role in facilitating CASI's distinctive research partnerships and student programs in India as well as visiting scholars programs on campus.
Q: With all you have on your plate, why do you still make time for Penn? Alber: First, I have gratitude to Penn. It
exposed me to so many things. I love being involved, both as payback for what I think the University gave me, but also because I get so much from being connected with professors, people I’ve met through Penn, and the students.
Q: Is that why you support financial aid in the College? Alber: I want to allow other people to have the
same great experience I had. Giving someone the best education they can get is a gamechanger. I find that many of my executive team have liberal arts backgrounds. Writing is a huge deal in business, obviously, and so the ability to write, to understand the world, is, I think, critical to leadership positions.
To further strengthen UPIASI, five Penn alumni and friends, all members of the Institute’s International Board, have made gifts to support its programs in India. They are Rana Kapoor, parent, the chief executive officer, co-founder, and managing director of Yes Bank and co-president of the UPIASI board; Sanjay Labroo, W'84, parent, managing director and chief executive officer of Asahi India Glass; Vikram Limaye, WG'96, managing director and chief executive officer of Infrastructure Development Finance Company and a member of the CASI Leadership Council; Ranjit Pandit, WG'80, managing partner at General Atlantic and co-president of the UPIASI board; and Ramanan Raghavendran, ENG'89, W'89, LPS'13, managing partner at Kubera Partners, a Penn Arts and Sciences overseer, and member of the CASI International Advisory Board. "Penn is very fortunate in its work on India—by faculty and students—in having a sister to CASI in the country itself," says Raghavendran. "The twin entities have worked exceptionally well together over the last 15 years in ensuring that CASI research in India is conducted efficiently and indeed enhanced through the assistance of the Institute's academic director, Eswaran Sridharan, GR'89." "UPIASI and its relationship to CASI and to Penn is exceptional among the University's U.S. peer institutions with programs in the region," says Madan Lal Sobti Associate Professor for the Study of Contemporary India and Associate Professor of Political Science Devesh Kapur, director of CASI. "CASI continues to benefit greatly with UPIASI's presence in Delhi. It helps us build and expand our in-country research projects, supports our visiting scholars and students, and provides direct engagement to CASI programs both in India and on campus with Penn alumni in India—one of Penn's largest international alumni communities. It is a privilege to have such a strategic and well-established partner at a time when U.S. higher education's global initiatives are a priority."
Learning About Leadership
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“A
student can be a leader in every
The latest gift of $5 million from Robert and Penny Fox
circumstance,” says John J. DiIulio, Jr.,
has doubled the number of fully funded fellowships.
the Frederic Fox Leadership Professor
Twenty of these will be dedicated to opportunities in the
of Politics, Religion, and Civil Society.
nation’s capital, while another 10 fellows will work on a
Thanks to the recently expanded Fox
new initiative—the Penn Program for Opinion Research
Fellowship program, 100 students every
and Election Studies, headed by John Lapinski, Associate
year will have the opportunity to prove that point. The Fox Fellowships are a key component of the Fox
Professor of Political Science and the elections unit director for NBC News.
Leadership Program, a program that offers a combination
Students say Fox Fellowships provide them with
of coursework, advising, events, and service experiences
extraordinary preparation to be leaders at Penn, in their
that engage thousands of Penn students each year in
careers, and in their communities.
its “study and serve” mission. Robert A. Fox, C’52, and Penny Grossman Fox, ED’53, established the program in 1999 and permanently endowed it in 2007.
Thanks to the Fox Fellowship program, Kristina Pelekoudas, C’15, of Irvine, California, spent the past summer at the Brookings Institution, working on a project
“Penn students are gifted intellectually, hard-working, and
to achieve universal healthcare coverage in Nigeria
extremely talented. The Fox Leadership Program helps
and another researching girls’ education in developing
them develop and package those skills so they can
countries. She credits the Fox Program with playing “a
assume leadership roles in their personal and professional
central and transforming role in my Penn experience.”
lives,” says DiIulio.
College junior Mikal Davis-West of Newark, New Jersey,
The program’s executive director, Joseph Tierney, adds,
spent his summer in New York City at the National Urban
“We develop leaders in all fields. We work with students to
League, working with directors to arrange national
identify and develop their particular talents.”
conferences and making connections with organizations
The Fox Fellowships provide students with support to engage in service internships in a variety of settings, including both summer and year-round internships. In
across the country. “It was a growing experience,” he says. “I felt like they were grooming me to do so much more. I can’t express how grateful I am for the fellowship.”
addition, alumni fellowships are available to provide
Sophie Harris, C’12, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, is working
support for recent graduates to engage with the program
for Providence Community Housing in New Orleans, which
for a year or more.
is responsible for bringing home 20,000 victims of Katrina.
George H. Long
With the New Orleans Superdome behind them, from left, Fox Fellows Maggie Tishman, C’10; Erica Halpern, C’10; and Judith Kim, C’09; Joseph P. Tierney, Executive Director, Fox Leadership Program; Gordon Wadge, CEO, YMCA of Greater New Orleans; and Fox Fellows Christi Julian, C’09; and Lany Villalobos, C’09. A new gift from program founders Bob and Penny Fox will allow more Penn students to take advantage of Fox leadership opportunities.
“I’ve stepped into one of the most culturally rich communities
scholarships in Penn Arts and Sciences for students from the
in the country, facing some of the toughest urban challenges,”
Philadelphia area with high financial need. The recipients will
she says. “Through this fellowship, I’m benefitting from a
be known as Frederic Fox scholars, honoring Robert Fox’s
network of mentors and friends, who have welcomed me to
father, and will be involved in the Fox Leadership Program
New Orleans and integrated me in to the work they are doing
throughout their time at Penn.
to improve it.”
“Bob and Penny Fox have a tremendous passion for giving
The Foxes’ latest gift, which brings their total support of the
Penn undergraduates unique opportunities to explore both
program to more than $28 million, also established four new
service and leadership,” said Penn President Amy Gutmann.
“ Through this fellowship, I’m benefitting from a network of mentors and friends...”
“We are so very grateful to Bob and Penny for their vision and their continued generosity, which will benefit students for generations to come.”
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Partners & Progress Jean-Marie Kneeley, Vice Dean Donna Armand, Executive Director Rebecca Rebalsky, Director, Donor
A publication of the Office of Advancement, Penn Arts and Sciences
For more information, please contact Rebecca Rebalsky at 215-898-5262 or rebecca4@sas.upenn.edu.
Relations and Development Communications
Susan Ahlborn, Writer Tracey Quinlan Dougherty, Writer
Penn Arts and Sciences Office of Advancement 3615 Market Street, Floor 2 Philadelphia, PA 19104-6318
Patricia Quinn, CGS’02, is the first
Once she completed her Penn degree,
to acknowledge the importance
Patty starting making annual gifts to
of a helping hand in achieving her
Bread, giving as much as she could
educational goals. “I know how much
afford. This year she saw an article
Bread Upon the Waters meant to me
about Penn Arts and Sciences’ planned
on so many levels in my life,” she says.
giving opportunities and thought, “I’m
That’s why, for her, helping someone
not sure how much money I will be able
else was the natural next step.
to leave once I’m gone. But whatever
The Bread Upon the Waters scholarship program provides support for women over the age of 30 as they earn an undergraduate degree at Penn. For Patty, this support made all the difference. Working two and three jobs at a time after high school, she would save up tuition money, take a college course, and save up for another course. Then she learned about Bread Upon the Waters. “It’s like heaven came down out of the clouds,” she says.
Anna Cascio
PLANNING AHEAD FOR BREAD UPON THE WATERS
it is, this is where I would like it to go.” Working with Penn’s Office of Gift Planning, Patty named the Bread Upon the Waters program as a beneficiary of her will. Along with her financial support, Patty offers encouragement and advice to the women who have come after her in the Bread program. “Bread helped me so much, and I’m seeing it help so many other women,” she says. “There’s this sense of justice. You give back.”
Patricia Quinn, CGS’02
Penn’s gift planning advisors can advise you on a variety of ways to make a difference for Bread Upon the Waters and other Penn programs. Please contact Lynn Ierardi, J.D., at 215-898-6171 or lierardi@dev.upenn.edu.